Nepalese style Okra and Jerusalem Artichokes

It is Ramadan and I am fasting, and thus eating a large meal at the end of the day. I went grocery shopping last week, being fairly judicious about what I bought because it is easy to have eyes bigger than my belly right now. There is only so much I can eat in one meal. And though frozen okra was not on my list (I had never even had it), frozen peas were. So while getting them, I saw that frozen okra was a thing, and in fact were on sale, 3 packages for $5. Friends, I am so happy to have stumbled across this find, because frozen okra is DELICIOUS. At least how I cooked it tonight. 

There is a particular dish I love from Gorkha Palace that is okra with potatoes. Upon dreaming about what I most wanted for dinner, I thought of that dish. My version uses jerusalem artichokes and green onions, because the latter are majestically upright in the garden bed, and the former are nestled amidst all the softening earth from the winter freeze. This turned out AMAZING. I combined a couple of online recipes because I wasn't sure how frozen okra would cook (they bake and crisp up really well - so for a faster dish, this easy-bake frozen okra dish is a winner). I also added some Panch Phoron spice that I'd mixed together last summer. I think those spices really kicked it up a notch (and were more like Gorkha Palace's dish), but it would still be good without. I will put this dish into regular rotation, it was so tasty. AND I'm trying to grow my own okra this year, so we'll see how that goes?!

This is my adapted recipe, based on this fairly simple online recipe. Serves 2, unless you are fasting and are eating extra, in which case you could eat all of this yourself! *I would like to try just adding the frozen okra to the skillet, but I wasn't sure if that would work. So instead I created an extra step - a bit tedious, but it worked.

• 1 bag frozen okra
• 2 T olive oil
  
• 1-2 jerusalem artichokes, diced (or use a smaller potato)
  
• 4-5 green onions, chopped (or use 1/2 a red onion, diced)
• 3 T coconut oil (or avocado oil)
• 1 tsp Panch Phoron spice 
  
• garlic clove, minced
• small jalapeno, minced
• 1 tsp turmeric, divided
  
• 1 tsp chili flakes (or 1/2 tsp cayenne), divided
  
• cilantro to garnish (opt - I totally forgot about this! I had some!)

1.  Turn oven to 450 degrees. In a cake pan/rimmed cookie sheet, combine 2 T olive oil with 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp chili flakes, and salt. Add the bag of frozen okra and stir to coat each of the pices. (It will not coat them all, that is fine.) Bake for 30 minutes in the oven, stirring and flipping them halfway through. They will brown and get nice and crispy. Yum. (You could just stop here and have only okra. But keep going and things will get even better!)
   
2. While okra bakes, prep your other ingredients. Heat oil in a wok over high heat; add jerusalem artichokes and stir-fry for about 5-8 minutes, until browning on the edges (stir often). Add white part of green onions, and Panch Phoron spices, stirring often.
   
3. Add garlic, jalapeno, and remaining 1/2 tsp of turmeric and chili pepper flakes. Stir fry for a minute or two, then add onion greens and crispy okra from the oven. Toss together and serve.